We are proud to announce Radikal Queen as our next Anti- Apartheid, Now commissioned artist.
Her proposal to integrate her poem, ‘Bangwa Queen,’ along with a digital installation was chosen by the Liliesleaf Trust UK to provoke thinking about learnings taken from the heritage of the struggle against apartheid from the perspective of indigenous peoples and with particular relevance to how this resonates within the United Kingdom.
The poem centres around a figurine that was stolen from her grandmother’s village during colonialism whose journey through western capitalism mirrors many of the experiences of African and other indigenous communities. It draws on established history to illustrate current inequities. ‘Bangwa Queen’ is a tale of missing histories that reflects on stolen heritage, dehumanization, colonialism, the parasitic nature of western capitalism and de-centring white gaze.
As she created her piece for the Liliesleaf Trust UK, she said that she often thought about the words of Toni Morrison:
“I’m writing for black people. In the same way that Tolstoy was not writing for me, a 14-year-old coloured girl from Lorain, Ohio. I don’t have to apologise or consider myself limited because I don’t [write about white people] – which is not absolutely true, there are lots of white people in my books. The point is not having the white critic sit on your shoulder and approve it.”
She says:
“I am not looking for validation or acceptance from the status quo and I have no problem with being seen as dangerous.
Through this piece and the process of peeling back the surface to reveal the sources of information I have used, I also peel away the genteel layer of manners that protects the powdered oppressor and forces the oppressed to tapdance with fake grins, whilst the sweat of exertion pours down our faces.”
Radikal Queen is a Black spoken word artist who, in her own words, ‘uses words that dance to original Black music and that shimmer with a raw sensuality, reminiscent of the vintage Blues divas.’
She has performed her unique brand of verse and theatre to audiences across the world. She is an award-winning artist and cultural activist with a global background of community-based, multimedia collaborative work within festivals, schools, carnivals and touring productions. For more about Radikal Queen visit her website.
Radikal Queen self-identifies as an African Indigenous person who is working to an ambassadorial brief given to her by her Elders, to use art to develop sustained global, cultural links with indigenous and marginalised communities.
We look forward to releasing Radikal Queen’s finished piece during November 2022.
Written by Matthew Hahn, Anti-Apartheid Now! Project Producer, November 2022
